Don't Leave
by Imagination.To.Paper
Summary: As another unsub is captured and victims are taken care of, one particular little girl becomes very attached to Agent Emily Prentiss. The girl has a complicated past, but can Emily be the one to help her feel safe again? First CM fic, Please R R if you want me to keep going.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey there! I decided to switch up the writing and try out a CM ****fic- mostly because I love this show. =]**

**This is something that has been floating around in my head for a while, so I know it is short, but if people like it, I will continue it. **

**I love Emily and so she is for sure in this! =] Please review and let me know if I should continue. **

* * *

"Derek!" Jennifer Jareau called out. She sighed as the muscled agent took off after a fleeing unsub.

"JJ" The blonde woman turned around at the sound of her name and saw her boss, Agent Aaron Hotchner, approaching her; face stern with a hint of question.

"What happened to Morgan?" He asked, no trace of emotion seemed to leave his face.

"Uhh. The unsub ran and Derek is tracking him down." She said, looking back in the direction he ran. "I'm not sure how far they have gotten." She replied honestly.

Aaron sighed. He knew Morgan was the quickest on foot compared to the rest of the team, but he had no idea where he would be, much less what state he, or the unsub, would be in. "Alright. JJ go back to the office and stay with Garcia. Keep your phone on and ready. I'll call if and when I need you to address the media. Tell Garcia to send me anything she has about the linked crimes."

"Mkay" She responded and grabbed her keys from her pocket. She got into her car and began to drive the 5 minute commute towards the office.

* * *

"Clear!" Dr. Spencer Reid called out as he finished checking the first room of the victim's house. He and two other agents, Agent David Rossi and Agent Emily Prentiss, had just received a call from their technical analyst, Penelope Garcia, saying this address was where the unsub's last known location was. The three agents had stayed behind to check the house while Morgan and JJ checked the surrounding area.

"Clear!" Rossi echoed as he checked another room and continued towards the stairs.

"I've got the basement. Reid..." Prentiss began but before she could finish her request, Dr. Reid was already behind her, gun at the ready to check the basement with her.

The two agents proceeded quietly down the stairs, each taking a side of the basement to check as they descended. Once they reached the last step, they evaluated the scene. There were two small rooms on either side of the far back wall. Each agent took a room, after clearing the rest of the open space of the basement.

Reid carefully stepped into the first room and quickly scanned the room. "Clear!" He yelled as he backed out of the room and went to the other rom, which was occupied by Prentiss.

Before he could reach the door, he heard her shout "Clear" followed by an order that she had made into her walkie talkie. "I need a medic at 1539 West Charleston. Repeat a medic at 1539 West Charleston."

Dr. Reid sighed; partly in sadness, and partly in relief. He was upset to know that an innocent person had gotten hurt, but he was glad when she called the medics; that meant whoever was in that room was still alive and had a chance of making it. Shaking his thoughts, Spencer entered the room and saw his fellow worker on the floor next to a frightened young girl. She couldn't be older than 10, and from the first looks Reid got, she had been brutally harmed.

Emily looked up at Spencer and spoke in hushed tones. "Go up to Rossi. I'm gonna stay down here with her. Tell the medics where I am when they get here." She instructed as she slowly moved her hand up and down the young girl's back.

Dr. Reid nodded and made his way back up the stairs to find the other agent. As he reached the top of the stairs, Rossi was coming down the stairs from the second level shaking his head. "Both parents killed in their room. Same pattern as the others. It's definitely him." Reid shook his head as well. "Emily found a little girl downstairs. Harmed but alive. I'm guessing the daughter."

Both agents shook their heads in sadness. They knew that this girl was most likely the daughter of the parents and even if she was able to recover, the emotional toll would be extremely difficult. "I'll contact Hotch." Rossi said, the first to speak, bringing them both out of their thoughts. Reid nodded in agreement and responded. "i'm gonna wait for the medics so they know where Emily is." Rossi nodded in agreement and walked out the door.

Only moments later, the medics entered the house and Reid stood up to show them which way to go.

Reid led them back down the stairs he and Prentiss had taken only minute ago and made his way to the second room. He let the medics enter first and followed, to offer any sort of support. When he entered the room, he heard several different voices, two from the medics, one from Emily, and one from the girl.

"Her name is Rachel." Emily stated to the medics as they knelt down next to her.

"Hi, Rachel. I'm Matt and my friend Tom and I are gonna move you off of this floor, ok?" The man explained as he and the other medic began to put their arms under the girl.

As Emily began to move away from Rachel, she was stopped by her shrieks. "Nooo! Emily! NO!" Rachel's arms began flailing as she tried to push the men off of her and reach for the agent.

"You're ok, Rachel." Tom ensured, but the girl continued to scream. "Emily! Emily! Please!"

This time, it was Emily who spoke. "Sweetie. I'm right here. I need you to be really brave for me, ok? I need you to let these nice men help you."

"Please don't leave me." The girl whimpered as she looked deep into the profiler's eyes.

"Ok." Emily stammered. "Ok. I'll be right here with you." She finished nodding to the medics. "Just let the medics help you up, ok?" The girl nodded in response and allowed the medics pick her up and transfer her onto a gurney. As promised, Emily followed the medics out and into the ambulance. Before shutting the door, she leaned out and sought out Reid, who had been there watching the entire scene unfold in the basement. "Tell Hotch..." She began, but he quickly nodded and said "I know." She smiled as the doors shut and she sat down. She didn't know how he always knew what she was thinking.


	2. Chapter 2

"Where is Emily?" Derek asked as the team reconfigured after Derek had caught up to the unsub and took him into custody.

"She went to the hospital with the young girl, Rachel. Her parents were killed and once Emily found her, she didn't let Emily out of her sight." Reid replied, recalling the events from the previous hour.

Derek nodded and turned to Hotch, who was approaching the team, his face indicating that he needed to talk to them.

"Oh come on, Hotch. Another case already? Do we not allow breaks between cases anymore" Morgan asked with a slight chuckle. His smile faded when he saw his leader's face even more stern that normal.

"There is another unsub." He said flatly and the profilers' eyes went wide in surprise and disbelief.

"Wait? How do you know..." Reid began before Hotch cut him off. "Reconvene in the conference room in 20. Someone contact Prentiss. JJ and Garcia are already at the office and are aware." He said as he turned to walk back tot he other officers that were still at the scene.

Rossi sighed as he rubbled his temples with his fingers. "Ok. I'm going to get coffee before we start. Anyone want some?" Both profilers nodded in response.

"I'll call Emily." Reid said as Derek and Rossi nodded and made their way towards one the SUV. They knew they didn't need to ask Reid what he wanted; they knew him. Black coffee. That's it. 'What kid drinks black coffee?' Derek had said once. He immediately regretted opening his mouth when Reid responded with a 5 minute explanation on the pros of drinking black coffee in comparison to any other coffee.

* * *

"Prentiss" Emily quickly answered her phone. She had been in the waiting room for about 45 minutes now. It had taken some major convincing on Emily's part so Rachel would go with the doctors while Emily stayed in the waiting room. Emily didn't have children and she had never really thought about having them. She adored JJ and Aaron's little boys, but the thought of giving birth never really appealed to Emily.

However, seeing the young girl cling to Emily as if she were the only thing keeping her safe invoked a pang in her heart. She didn't know what it was about Rachel- Emily had dealt with numerous child victims- but the girl had somehow made a lasting impression. It didn't bother Emily that she was stuck in a waiting room. Something in her wanted to stay and wait for the girl until she was confident that she was properly taken care of.

"Hey, Reid." Emily replied at his voice. "What? How is that possible?" She asked as Reid disclosed the recent information. "Uhh yeah. I can be..." She began when a doctor emerged calling out Rachel's name. "I gotta go, Spens." She said quickly. "I'll call back in a bit."

As she finished her conversation, Emily stood up and made eye contact with the doctor- indicating that she was there for Rachel.

"Hello, Agent Prentiss, right?" The doctor asked, remembering the information given to him when she arrived and the struggle it had been for the girl to let go of Emily.

"Yes. How is she?" She asked.

"She has a mild concussion, which should last only a few days. Other than some cuts and bruises, she is alright." He began before looking down at his chart. "However, we haven't yet had a psych evaluation, so I'm not sure where she is with that." He said, shaking his head.

"Does she know?" Emily began, referring to the death of the girl's parents. A shake of the head from the doctor indicated that it would most likely be her telling Rachel the worst news in her short life.

* * *

"Welcome, my wonderful blossoms." Garcia said as the team filed into the conference room. She and JJ had gotten news of the second unsub quickly and were already working on a profile. "Recent information on the apprehended unsub is on your tablets along with several other men who have close connections to him." She said as they all took a seat and began to flip through the information on their tablets in front of them.

"How did this guy slide under our radar?" Derek asked as he looked through the 5 profiles of possible unsubs.

"This guy is the brains behind this. The other guy just did the dirty work. We're gonna have a harder time with this unsub" Rossi announced, not looking up from his tablet.

Before anyone else could verbalize their thoughts, Hotch entered the room, capturing the attention of his profilers. "Timothy Sanders is who we already have in custody and he will not disclose anything." He stated flatly before turning to Garcia. "Garcia, have you narrowed down a pool of suspects?"

Garcia nodded and handed him one of the free tablets. "Yup. These 5 have had strong connections with Timothy and have all contacted him numerous times within the last month."

Their leader looked through the information gathered by his technical analyst and nodded. "Ok. Did we get in contact with Prentiss?" He asked to the room.

"I did." Reid stated. "She is still at the hospital with Rachel. But I only got to talk for a minute before she was pulled away by Rachel's doctor."

"Alright. Morgan, I want you in interrogation with Timothy. I need something from him; anything." He stated, looking at the man sitting at the end of the table.

"Got it" He responded as he pushed himself out of his chair and headed out the door.

"Rossi and Reid I need you guys to look deeper into this profile. Garcia, any links you can find between these two is imperative. And JJ come with me. We need to determine how we are going to address the media."

The four remaining members of the team nodded in understanding of their job and JJ stood up. Hotch watched as the other three began to work and walked out the door, JJ behind him, to meet up with several other team leaders to discuss the best way to go about the new information of the case.

* * *

At the ok of the doctor, Emily made her way to Rachel's hospital room. She took a deep breath and tried to prepare herself for what could happen once she explained to the young girl what happened to her parents.

She slowly opened the door and peered in. Rachel was sleeping in the hospital bed that was way too big for such a little girl. She quietly made her way to one of the chairs and eased herself down. She looked sadly at the young girl, even while asleep her face still look pained.

Emily sat back in her chair and took out her phone to update the team on the situation, but only seconds after she pulled her phone out, Rachel began to stir in the bed. Emily remained still, just in case she was just repositioning herself and would go back to sleep. However, it was soon clear that she wasn't just getting comfy in the bed.

Emily watched as the girl began to toss and turn, thrashing her head back and forth on the pillow. Emily immediately got up and made her way to the bed; knowing that the constant movement of her head could worsen her concussion. "Hey, love." Emily cooed as she sat on the edge of the bed. When the girl began to mumble in a panic, Emily tried physical contact to calm the girl. She rested a cool hand on the girl's forehead and pushed back the hair that had fallen over her eyes. "Rachel, sweetie." Emily whispered softly. "You're ok."

Emily, having very little experience with comforting a child, hoped that what she was doing was effective. The woman was pulled out of her thoughts when the mumbling turned into words and tears began to leak from the girl's small eyes. "No. Please! Please don't. Stop!" Her dirty blonde hair beginning to stick to her face as she began to sweat.

Emily sighed and realized that she was going to have to do something else if she wanted the girl to be able to relax. Not even thinking, Emily moved her body so she was parallel to Rachel. She picked up the small girl, carefully avoiding any injuries and making sure not to move her head much, and gathered her into arms. Rachel's head found its was to Emily's shoulder and Emily pushed herself further down in the bed so the girl's body would be in a lying position on top of her. "Shhh. You're ok. You're ok." Emily soothed as she ran a hand up and down her back.

As Emily continued to sooth the girl and rub circles on her back, she felt her begin to relax. She had stopped mumbling quickly, and her breathing slowly became more regulated. Finally, when her body stopped moving, Emily took a breath and stopped moving her hand, but kept it on the girl's back. She could feel the girl's steady heartbeat and even breathing and knew she had fallen asleep once again.

Not wanting to take the chance of waking Rachel up, she remained in the bed with her. As the girl's breathing became deeper, Emily decided to take this time to get some rest as well. She knew she would wake up at any sudden movements or sounds, and having Rachel in her arms made her more comfortable that the girl was safe.

Emily closed her eyes, the thought of this little girl flooding her mind. Emily still didn't know what was so different about her, but she felt so comfortable with the girl sleeping in her arms. She smiled as she stroked the girl's head a few times before drifting off asleep as well.


	3. Chapter 3

Only a few hours after Emily had fallen asleep, she was pulled out of slumber by heavy movements on her stomach and murmuring. Rubbing her eyes as she tried to wake up fully, Emily looked down and saw that Rachel was once again in a restless sleep. Emily sighed as she yawned and shifted herself in order to gather the girl into her arms in a more comfortable position.

"Shhhhh. Rachel. You're ok. You're ok, sweetie." Emily whispered as she rocked the girl in her arms.

"No. Nooo please! Please no!" Rachel's mumbling once again began to form actual words. Emily listened in horror as the girl continued to cry out words of pain. "Stop! It hurts! Please I don't like it!" Emily could feel tears beginning to build up in her eyes.

"Rachel, sweetie. It' ok. It's me, Emily. You're safe." Emily tried to soothe the girl, but she felt like everything she tried didn't work. Finally, after a few minutes of unsuccessful whispering, she decided she needed to take a different approach; she needed to wake the girl up.

Emily shifted the young girl's weight onto one arm and used the other one to brush strands of hair away from the girl's face as she stroked her cheeks. "Rachel, honey. Can you wake up?" Emily asked. "It's just a dream, sweetie." She tried again.

"Nooo! Please!" Rachel screamed at the movements of Emily.

"Sweetheart, you're ok." Emily said as she continued to raise the girl up into a sitting position in hopes that it would wake her up.

"Rachel. Come on, love. Wake up." Emily pleaded; partly to encourage the girl, and partly to encourage herself that things would be ok.

* * *

Morgan slammed his hand on the table in the interrogation room. He had been trying to get anything from Timothy for over a half hour, and so far, he had said nothing relevant.

As Morgan reached his last straw with the smug killer, Hotch opened the door and motioned for Morgan to follow him out. He let out a huge sigh and pushed himself up and out of the chair, making sure to take the file with him.

"I'm gonna kill this guy soon, Hotch. It's like he knows exactly what to say and when to say it so it doesn't give away any information. But he is just the guy who did all of the dirty work. If he is this smart, how much of a genius will the brains behind the operation be?" He spoke quickly and with much frustration in his tone.

"I need you to play down to him. Belittle him and make him fall back into the role of being pushed around and talked down to. Most likely that is how he was treated by the other unsub and could possibly cause him to say something we can use. Please, Morgan. If we don't catch this guy soon, he could go underground and we could loose any sort of hope to finding him." Hotch explained as he kept his stern eyes on the man in front of him.

Derek let out a huge frustrated breath and nodded. He knew that everything Hotch had said was completely true, and he was determined to get something out of the scumbag in the other room. Morgan turned to go back into the room and Hotch went back to find Garcia to see if she had any luck finding anything.

* * *

"Mommy! Mommy!" The girl wailed as huge sobs racked her body. Emily had finally gotten her to wake up and the moment her eyes flew open, the girl was screaming in fear.

"Shhhh, honey" Emily said as she pulled the girl back into her arms, resting the girl's head to her shoulder as she rubbed soothing circles on her back. "You're ok, baby. You're ok."

Rachel relaxed for a moment in the warm and strong arms of Emily, but when Emily removed her hand from the girl's back to brush some hair out of her face, the wailing began once more.

"MOMMY! Please no please help!" She cried as she tried to push out of Emily's arms. The girl's breathing became unrhythmic, which caused more tears to flow.

Emily immediately felt the young girl struggling to breathe and quickly turned the girl so they were face to face. "Rachel." Emily stated, trying to gain the attention of the small girl. "Rachel, sweetie, can you look up at me?" She cooed as she used a finger to lift up the girl's chin. "That's it. Good job, love." She began, still hearing the uneven breathing. "Ok, love I need you to breathe, ok? Breathe, baby." Emily instructed."Here" She said as she lifted one of the girl's hands and placed it on her own chest. "Follow my breathing. Nice and slow. That's it. Good job. Keep breathing."

Finally, the girl's breathing became under control and her head lightly dropped onto the profiler's shoulder in exhaustion. Emily turned to the side in order to lay the girl back on the bed when she felt the girl's grip tighten.

Sighing, Emily turned back onto her back and settled back into the pillow. Rachel's head found a spot in the crook of Emily's neck and began to drift off to sleep.

Emily looked up at the celling and sighed. She reached over to the desk, which she was now closer to, picked up her phone, and began to text Reid. She had no idea that this was going to be so difficult. Her lack of knowledge on children was making the task very daunting and frightening, but she knew now more than ever, she needed to stay with Rachel until everything was straightened out.

* * *

"Reid. Rossi" Hotch said as he walked into the room that was occupied by the two profilers. "Anything?"

The two shook their heads in frustration.

"I don't know how we are gonna find him if we didn't know about him until now." Rossi said with a sigh.

"Research shows that in cases where there are..." Reid began when his phone buzzed on the table. He looked down and saw it was from Emily. "Hey. I just got a text from Emily." He stated as he got up to show his unit chief.

_I don't know when I will get out of here. She is showing signs of PTSD and will not let go of me. I'm waiting for the doctor to come back and give me more information. Found out she doesn't have any living relatives. Tell Hotch I will call as soon as I can. Thanks, Reid. -Emily_

Hotch let out a breath of hot air as he turned to the agents. "Ok. We're meeting in here in a few minutes. Keep sifting through and we'll determine how to proceed based on what we gather." He instructed as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"I'll let you know if Emily calls." Spencer offered, as he knew the leader was frustrated.

Hotch nodded at the young man and walked out of the door.

* * *

Shortly after Rachel had relaxed into a somewhat sound sleep, Emily heard a knock at the door, followed by the entrance of Dr. Fendmen.

The doctor looked at the little girl in the profiler's arms and smiled slightly- he knew that Emily wasn't the girl's mother, but she sure looked the part.

As he walked in further, Emily heard his footprints and turned her head slightly to indicate she was still awake.

Slowly, Emily turned her body to once more try and get the girl to lie down on her own, but once again she felt her little hands grin tighter to the profiler's shirt and Emily sighed. She didn't want the girl to be frightened, but she needed to talk to the doctor. She tried once more, this time pulling her arm out from under the girl's back. This did not go unnoticed by Rachel and she began to reach her arms up, trying to find Emily's.

"Shhh, sweetie. I'm right here." Emily said as she reached out to place a hand on the girl's leg, once she had pulled herself completely out from under the girl. "I'm not leaving." She stated again as she began to stroke the small leg in a soothing motion. Once Emily could see the girl relax, she turned to Dr. Fendmen, who had been intently watching the entire time.

"Well first off, I wanted to say I know you aren't Rachel's mother, but you are doing a phenomenal job at keeping her calm. Most people wouldn't know how to handle a girl going through what she did." He said with a raised eyebrow.

Emily blushed and looked at the ground. "I just did what my mom used to do to me when I was scared."

Dr. Fendmen smiled and nodded. "Well I have an appointment with the hospital's psychologist at a location right outside of the hospital. She is a friend of mine and I asked her for an emergency meeting for Rachel."

Emily's eyes widened. "Uhhh I don't... I mean I'm not with..." She sighed in frustration. "I'm just with her until someone from child services can take care of her. I don't know if she will be able to get to an appointment today."

"Oh. Alright. That's understandable." The doctor said as he looked down at his clipboard.

"Uhh Let me call my supervisor and find out where the child services are. They should be here any time" Emily stated as she reached for her cellphone.

Dr. Fendmen nodded and replied "I'll come back in a few minutes." as he walked towards the door.

Emily nodded and clicked send on her phone; hoping that Hotch had some answers for her.

* * *

"Really, man?" Derek scoffed as he looked down at Timothy in disgust. He was trying his hardest to pull at every nerve and it was going on 10 minutes. "Is it just your lack of knowledge?" He asked while standing up to tower over the man. "Or is it just the fact that you don't understand the big boy parts of the plan? Oh and is that why you were stuck doing the dirty work? Why you didn't get to have any say? Is that why you're the only one who got caught?"

At the last sentence, Timothy slammed his fist on the table and let out a deep frustrated breath.

"Oh! ok! I think we hit a nerve there! Ok!" Morgan yelled with a smile as he watched the man turn into a frenzy.

"It's those damn parents. I wouldn't have gotten caught. I wasn't the only one!" He grumbled. "I told him I didn't need help. It was just a stupid girl." His last sentence was barely audible, but Derek heard it. He decided to continue to play off of it.

"Just a little girl? You couldn't handle just a little girl?" He laughed at Timothy and watched as his face fume.

"That stupid bitch got off lucky! If he had just let me take care of her, she would've been gone before those damn parents even got there!" He yelled as he paced the floor angrily.

At the last part of his rant, Hotch, who had gone back to see how Derek was doing, pulled out his cell phone. He turned to the surrounding officers and instructed them to get Derek out of there and gather the team into the conference room.

As he began to punch in the number into his phone, he saw that he had an incoming call. _Emily?_ He thought as he answered the phone. "Prentiss. Are you still with the girl?" He asked, panic evident in his voice.

"I was just going to ask you to see when child services was going to be here. The doctor wants her to go through a psychological eval today. What should I tell him?"

Hotch sighed. He pinched the bridge of his nose before answering. "Yeah they on their way. But we need her down here to help possibly identify our second unsub."

"Wha-"

"Prentiss. I need you to go through a cognitive replay with her. Have her go through the day. We need something. Morgan got something out of Timothy, but it's nothing without the match of what the girl says." He explained.

"What about child services? And the appointment?" Emily asked as she looked back at Rachel, who had begun to toss and turn again.

"I'll contact child services. You need to work with her now."

Emily sighed as she clicked off the phone. She knew it was going to be an unpleasent talk with the young girl, but shook her head, reminding herself that it needed to be done.

Carefully, Emily walked over to the girl who was finally in a sound sleep. _Damn it!_ She swore to herself. She didn't want to have to wake her up after she finally got in a good sleep.

However, as if she heard her, Rachel began to stir and whimper. Emily carefully sat down and ran a finger along the girl's scrunched face. "Rachel, honey. I need you to wake up for me, ok?" She prodded as she stroked the girl's cheek.

"Mommy!" She screeched suddenly. She bolted straight up in the bed and began sobbing. Emily took the girl into her arms and carefully rocked her, smoothing her hair down and trying to quiet the sobs.

After about 5 minutes, Emily had finally gotten the girl to stop sobbing and breath evenly. She looked down at her and began to talk. "Rachel? Sweetie can you look up at me please?" She asked gently. The profiler waited until the little girl looked up to continue. "Hey, sweetie. I wanted to ask you some questions about what happened in your house. I know it's scary, but you're safe here. I'm right here with you, ok?"

Rachel nodded her head slightly and tightened her grip on Emily's arm.

"Good!" Emily praised as she smiled and gave the little girl a slight squeeze. "Now I need you to let go of me..." She began before Rachel cut her off.

"Noooo!" She cried as she clung even tighter to Emily.

"Sweetie." Emily said, looking down at the girl. "I will not leave you, ok? I just need us to be facing each other. You're gonna be fine, sweetie."

Finally, after moments of silence from the girl, Emily used her finger to lift her chin up so they were looking at each other. "Rachel. Do you trust me?" Emily asked kindly.

"Yes."


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey! Sorry this is a shorted chapter. Things have been crazy around here. This is all Emily and Rachel so enjoy! =]**

**Thanks for the reviews and follows! They are the best!**

"Ok. So you trust me, which means you need to listen to what I say. Can you do that for me?" Emily asked gently.

Rachel's face mirrored one of an even younger child than she already was; the things Emily had guessed she had gone through made her heart break. No child should even know about this sort of bad in the world, let alone live through it. She was pulled from her thoughts when she heard a small "Yes"

Emily smiled down at the girl and took her hands into her own. She squeezed slightly and smiled. "Good job, honey. Now I need you to close your eyes and relax your breathing." She instructed. "Come on, baby. Close your eyes. I'm right here, promise." Emily nodded to herself when she saw the little eyes shut. "And now slow down your breathing. Shhh there ya go, love. You're doing such a good job."

The profiler could see the sheer terror on the girl's face and bit her lip at the fact that she was this uneasy and Emily hadn't even asked her a question yet. Taking a deep breath, she pushed herself to begin.

"Oh, sweetie. I need you to tell me what was happening in your house before the bad man came in."

Rachel's face scrunched and she opened her eyes. "No baby girl. Keep your eyes closed, ok?" Emily said gently.

The girl closed her eyes once more, but remained silent.

"Rachel, can you tell me what was happening before the bad man came?" Emily asked once more, nervous as to what the answer would be.

Once again, the girl's face scrunched as if in confusion.

"What's wrong, love?" Emily asked

"Which bad man did you mean?"

Emily's heart skipped a beat. "Was there more than one?" She dreaded the next answer.

The girl nodded her head as if it was normal. "Mommy's friend was bad to me and mommy. But mommy said not to tell anyone." She began. At listening to her own words, Rachel's eyes sprung open once more and tears threatened to fall down her face. "Oh no! I told someone! My mommy is gonna be mad." Tears began to spill over but Emily used her thumbs to catch the tears.

"Its ok, sweetie. This is a safe place. And you can tell me anything here. You aren't going to get into any trouble. Remember you can trust me. Ok?" Emily asked as she added a small smile.

Rachel nodded again and closed her eyes.

"So was mommy's friend the one who hurt you before I found you?" Emily asked.

"No. That was another bad man. I never seen him before."

"When did you see him first?"

"I was playing with dollies in my room. And he was there." She said quickly.

"He was where, Rachel? In your room?"

"Yeah." She replied, beginning to shrink back into the pillows.

"Ok, baby I know you're scared and tired, but I just need you to be a brave girl for me just a little longer, ok?" Emily sighed as she cupped the girl's chin with her hand.

The young girl sighed and nodded once more.

"Good girl!" Emily praised. "Ok and where were mommy and daddy when he was in your room?"

"I dono." She said with a shrug.

"Ok. Can you tell me how the bad man got into your house?" She prodded. Emily was racking her brain trying to think of anything that would give her any sort of clue as to who the man was.

"I dono." Rachel said once again. Emily knew she needed to choose her next questions carefully.

"Ok, Rachel. I need you to think really hard for me. What did the man do when he came into your room?"

Emily saw the girl's face fall and lip begin to quiver. "He said bad words and walked over to me."

Emily stopped the girl. "Good. Tell me what he looked like."

"I don't remember..." She began when Emily cut her off. "Come on, baby. Try really hard to remember. What was he wearing? Did he look like someone or smell a certain way?"

Rachel's brow furrowed indicating she was thinking about the questions. "Ummm he was big and he smelled icky. Like when there is trash not in the trashcan. Mommy doesn't like when we leave trash out." She began to get off topic, so Emily gently responded with, "Good, sweetie. Keep going. Tell me everything you remember about the man."

"He had his shoes on inside and my mommy doesn't like that either."

"Good. What was he wearing?" She asked.

"It was black."

"What was, honey?"

"The pants and shirt. It all was. Even his hat." She explained.

"Was his face black too, sweetie?" Emily asked, hoping to get the race of the man.

Surprisingly, Rachel shook her head no. "No his face was not black but his arm was."

Emily cocked her head at the girl who still had her eyes closed. "What do you mean his arm was?"

"He had black pictures on his arm."

_A tattoo._ Emily thought excitedly. If Rachel could recall what the tattoo was, it would be a little easier for them to catch him. "Good! Good! Can you tell me what the pictures looked like, sweetie?"

Rachel shook her head much to Emily's disappoint. "No. It was squiggles that I don't know."

Emily sighed. She figured she would try a different path, seeing as the girl was still sitting in a calm position.

"Ok, Rachel. Can you tell me what the man did when he walked into your room?"

At the drop of a dime, Rachel's face went pale and she turned to the side of the bed and began to vomit.

"Oh, baby." Emily cried as she moved to pull the girl's hair away from her face. "You're ok, sweetie. We can be done for now." She said as she rubbed soothing circles on the girl's back.

After the sound of retching ended, it was quickly replaced by the sound of sobs.

"Rachel, honey. Can you look at me?" Emily coaxed as the girl slowly picked her head up.

At the sight of the tear stained face and pale complexion, Emily gathered the girl in her arms and began to rock her. "I'm so sorry, sweetie. I'm sorry we should've taken a break." She laced her fingers through the girl's hair. "Would you like to wash your mouth out and have some water?" She asked.

At first, Rachel nodded, but when she realized Emily would have to get up to get the cup, Rachel cried out and said she didn't want to anymore.

"Sweetie. It will make you feel so much better. To get that yucky taste out of your mouth." Emily explained, but the girl reluctantly shook her head and buried her face deep into Emily's neck. Sighing, Emily leaned back onto the pillows and continued stroking the girl's hair.

While Rachel calmed herself down at Emily's touch, the profiler took out her phone and sent a quick text to Spencer.

_Hey. Got only a little from her. Gonna try again later. When is CS getting here? -Emily _

Not even a minute went by before Emily felt her phone buzz.

_Hotch wants whatever you got so far. And Hotch had them wait until you were done talking to her. -Spence _

Emily sighed. She knew she needed to get Rachel in to see the psychologist.

_I need to get her into see a psychologist recommended by the doctor. She is broken Reid. I can't just throw her to CS like this. Plus I know there is more to her story, it will just take a while. -Emily_

As she pushed send, she heard a slight knock at the door. Emily motioned for the doctor to enter and she got right to the point. "What time can she get into that appointment?"

A sad smile escaped from the doctor's mouth and he looked at his watch. "She said to give her a heads up when Rachel was ready. So I would say 5 minutes?"

Emily nodded and felt her phone buzz in her hand. She knew that it would be a struggle to get Rachel to talk to this psychologist, but she only had so many strategies to help the girl. She nodded finally and stated, "She'll be ready then."

"I will send her here in 5. Don't worry about getting anything ready. Her name is Dr. Sarah Howser. She is one of the best."

Emily smiled. "Thank you."

As the doctor turned to leave, Emily looked down and saw that the little girl had fallen asleep once more. She sighed as she picked up her phone to read the text from Spencer.

_Hotch wants what you have now and he said he can only hold CS off for a little while longer. -Spence _

Emily nodded to herself, she knew it was difficult to bend the lines with child services, but she felt something deep in her gut that told her this meeting was necessary. She quickly explained to Spencer what Rachel had disclosed and then put her phone back on the side table. She stared at the little girl in her arms, not wanting to wake her from the sleep that seemed peaceful.

After a few moments of silence, Emily cleared her throat. "Ok, Rachel." She gently moved the girl. "I need you to wake up for me, sweetie." She continued. Slowly, Rachel began to move. Her small movements began to increase and soon her arms were flailing, Emily trying to grab them before they hit her in the face.

"Rachel, honey! You're ok. Sweetie you are safe. Come on baby. Come on. Wake up. It's Emily, honey." She cooed. Trying her best to get the girl to wake up quickly.

Finally, her eyes opened and they were filled with fear. As her gaze met Emily's, she lowered her head.

"Can you look at me?" She asked and waited for the small eyes to meet hers. Emily smiled and began to talk again. "I have a really nice friend coming in a little bit who wants to talk with you. I promise she is very very nice." She tried to explain before Dr. Howser got there. "Her name is Dr. Sarah Howser and she is so so nice. She just wants to talk to you! Like we talked."

Rachel shook her head and tried to lie back down only to be caught by Emily's arm. "No, sweetie. She is coming here in a couple minutes so I need you to be a really big girl for me. Can you do that?" Emily pulled the little girl up slightly so she was sitting next to Emily.

"No!" She said and turned with a pout. Suddenly, out of nowhere, she began to sob, her body shaking hard. "Where is my mom and dad?" She choked out between sobs.

Emily's heart broke. She had no idea how to go about helping the little girl, but that stupid feeling in her gut kept pushing her to try.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the short chapter, but I would like suggestions as to where this story should go. I tend to have good starts to stories, but never know where to take them. **

**Please leave a review of what your thoughts are. **

"Rachel." Emily said gently, trying to remain calm. Emily knew that Sarah would be there shortly and if she didn't get her relaxed by then, the whole appointment would be pointless- they would get nowhere.

"I want my mommy! Emily where is my mommy?" She cried.

Emily's heart broke for the umpteenth time that night. She knew she had to tell the girl about her parents, but there was so much about the little one that she still didn't know. Making a quick decision, Emily replied softly, "you can't see them right now because we have to get you better, ok?" Emily cocked her head, hoping that the girl would accept that answer, at least for now. "How old are you?" Emily continued, hoping that the girl would engage in conversation.

"Eight." She said quietly, in almost a shy manner. Emily closed her eyes. _Eight years old?_ She thought. _So young! E_mily shook the thoughts away and smiled "Wow! Such a big girl!"

Rachel blushed slightly as her tears began to dry. Emily took this as a good topic to talk about, so she went with it. "And are you in third grade?" She was met with a small nod. "Wow!" She repeated. "What is your favorite part about school?" Emily continued.

"I like to read but also..." She started but before she could continue, there was a knock at the door and Rachel fell silent.

"That's probably my friend Sarah!" Emily said with a smile. She started to get up from the bed to open the door, but Rachel reached out and grasped the older woman's wrist.

"Don't leave" She said in almost a whisper.

Emily sighed and sat back down. "Come on in!"

Slowly, the door opened to reveal a small red-readed woman who looked to be in her thirties. She carefully closed the door behind her and smiled brightly as she walked closer to the bed. Rachel tightened her grip on Emily's wrist as the woman approached and buried her head into the profiler's shirt.

"You're ok." Emily whispered to the girl before turning her attention towards Sarah. "Hi. I'm agent Emily Prentiss." She extended a hand to the woman who shook it with a nod.

"Ah yes. Dr. Fendmen told me you were here keeping Rachel company." She responded partly to Emily but partly to Rachel, who was still hiding herself within the confines of Emily's shirt. "And speaking of, where is Rachel?" She continued as she eyed the girl.

Emily smiled and turned herself so she was facing the young girl. "Come on, Rachel. It's alright. I'm right here." She coaxed, gently lifting the girl's face away from her shirt. "Come on, love."

Seconds after Emily was able to free the girl's face from her shirt, Rachel pushed her head down into Emily's lap- still trying to hide herself. Emily looked up at Sarah and sighed. "Rachel, sweetie."

"Hey Rachel." Sarah tried, tilting her head lower to try and reach the girl's line of vision. "My name is Sarah and I just wanted to talk to you a little bit and see how you're doing. Maybe hear about some of the things you like to do."

"You were just telling me about your favorite classes in school!" Emily exclaimed as she reached her hands down and lifted the young girl up by her armpits.

"Noooo" Rachel squirmed as Emily tried to keep her sitting upright next to her.

"It's ok, Rachel. You don't have to look at me, that's fine. But can you still tell me a little bit about your favorite class in school?" Sarah asked once Emily laid the girl back down.

Rachel shook her head back and forth and remained silent. Emily looked at Sarah with questioning eyes. She had no idea what to do to help and was begging with her eyes for Sarah to do something.

"I know it can be super scary to talk to a new person, but I promise that you are safe here. Nothing bad is going to happen to you because all I want to do is learn a little bit about you" Sarah said with a kind tone. "Can you tell me something that you like to do?"

Rachel remained silent and pushed herself further into Emily's body.

"Ok well how about I spend some time talking to Emily and then we can talk. Sound ok?" At this Rachel nodded slowly, but kept her face down.

Emily nodded as well as she stroked the girl's hair between her fingers. "Sorry."

Sarah smiled sadly. "It's perfectly normal for her to be like this to a new person, especially someone so young." Emily nodded as she glanced down at the little girl. "Can we step outside to talk?" She asked but before she could finish her question, Rachel flung herself completely over Emily's legs and began to sob.

"Noooooo! No Emily! Don't leave me! Please!" She wailed, squeezing whatever part of Emily she could into her small hands.

"Ok, sweetheart. You're ok." Emily said, trying to release the tight grasp the girl had on her thigh. "I'm gonna be right over there, sweetie. I'll keep the door open a little and keep my foot inside the room." She assured as she tried to calm the girl down.

"Noooo!" Rachel sobbed.

Emily looked up at Sarah again for guidance.

"Hey Rachel." She said gently, squatting down next to the bed. "I need to talk to one of you, so either you can talk to me, or I have to talk with Emily right outside of the room. It can be your choice. Which would you like?"

Rachel was quiet for a moment, except for the slight sniffling. Finally, she lifted her head up and whispered "I don't wanna get in trouble."


	6. Chapter 6

**I know, I know it has been forever since I updated this and I am so sorry! I just haven't had much time. **

**Also, I know this is a short chapter, but I wanted to add a filler and hopefully my creative juices will begin to flow quicker. **

**Thanks for your patience. I truly appreciate it. **

* * *

"You know what?" Sarah said gently. "Whatever you say in this room is ok. You are safe and you won't get in trouble, ok?" She tried to relax the young girl.

"But mommy said not to say." Rachel continued, still not looking up at either woman in the room.

Emily looked at Sarah before pushing some of the girl's hair that had fallen over her eyes away. "Can you look at me, sweetie?" She asked quietly. After a few moments, Rachel slowly picked her head up and her eyes met Emily's. The profiler smiled before continuing to talk. "Right now we need to know everything about the bad men who were in your house so we can catch them. We want to make sure they don't hurt anyone else again, ok?"

Rachel finally looked at Sarah who was waiting patiently at the end of the hospital bed in a chair. "Mommy said not to tell that he comed over because it would make daddy not happy." She said carefully before looking back at Emily.

"Great job, love!" Emily said as she continued to stroke the girl's blonde hair. "Do you know who this man is?"

"He been at my house with my mommy." She responded then she looked up at Emily again with tears in her eyes. "Where is my mommy?" This time, she didn't scream or cry or whine; she merely asked and Emily didn't know how to respond.

Emily looked to Sarah for guidance as to how she should tell Rachel that her parents were dead.

"Rachel, honey." Sarah spoke up finally, causing the girl's gaze to shift to the red-head. "Sweetheart mommy and daddy aren't here. They went to a place where they can't get hurt and are safe." She tried this approach, not knowing what the girl's religion was and avoiding anything about a God.

Rachel looked at her with questioning eyes. "Can I go there too?"

Emily closed her eyes in sadness and squeezed the girl's shoulder gently.

"I'm sorry, love. You can't go there." Sarah responded, though she had a feeling the girl wouldn't let it go that easily.

"But why? I want mommy and daddy. I wanna see them!" Tears began to fall again as the confused child tried to understand.

Finally, Emily placed both hands under the girl's chin and waited for Rachel's eyes to meet her own. "Sweetie, mommy and daddy are gone. I'm so sorry." She tried to put it into simple terms without actually saying the word dead.

"They died?" She asked in a small voice and when Emily nodded she broke down in heavy tears once more. "Noooooooooo!" She screamed before suddenly falling into a coughing fit.

"Rachel, sweetie you need to calm down and take some deep breaths, ok?" Emily tried to sooth the girl but she pushed her away for the first time since she met her.

"No! Go away! Mommy and daddy not dead! You mean!" She tried to move off of the bed, but Emily wrapped her arm around the girl's small waist and carefully kept the girl in place. "Sweetie, I am so sorry. I wish I was wrong. Honey, but I need you to breathe for me. Please?" Emily pleaded as the girl continued to fight the profiler.

"I am going to need to set up a more individualized session with her." Sarah said after a few minutes of Emily trying to calm Rachel down. The red-head stood up and looked through her binder. "I have an appointment in a half hour, but at 5 I am done for the day. I'm going to let her relax a little and come back then. I will have some other ideas and more time with her then. And possibly, you can get her to sleep before I get back?" She asked looking sadly at the little girl who was beginning to show extreme exhaustion. "It might help."

Emily looked at the woman and nodded.

Sarah gathered her things and began to walk towards the door. Before she left, she turned back around to Rachel, whose face was now buried into one of the pillows. "I will be back in about an hour, sweetie. Try and get some sleep, ok?" She asked, knowing she most likely wouldn't get a response back.

After a few moments of silence, Sarah smiled slightly at Emily and walked out the door, letting it close softly behind her.

* * *

"Reid. Have you heard anything from Prentiss?" Hotch asked as he hurried into the conference room.

"No. Not since I told her that child services were waiting. She said that she was going to try and talk with the girl and get something to help identify the partner." he answered quickly.

"Ok. I want Rossi and Reid to sit with the local officers and go through recent burglaries, break ins, anything that relates to this crime. Maybe we can find a pattern." He instructed before the two called got up and left with a nod.

Hotch turned to JJ and Garcia, who had since come out of her computer room in order to take notes from Hotch quicker. "Garcia, I want you on call with Rossi and Reid. Anything they find, you get every single bit of information on it, got it?" He asked a question that was more like a statement.

"Yes, sir." The woman said as she pulled out her phone to call Rossi and began to walk back to her computer.

"Hotch, the media is all over this. We need to make a statement before this guy gets any sort of name and becomes bolder." JJ advised as the man thought through his options.

"I wanted to wait and see if Prentiss could get anything from the girl. Without her statement, we don't have much of anything solid for the partner.' He said sadly.

"Which hospital is she at?" JJ asked suddenly.

"Harper West, why?"

"Maybe I can help Emily out. I could probably be more of a help there than here." She said in an almost pleading tone. JJ hated to just sit around when there was some place she could be that would be more helpful.

The leader thought over the suggestion for a moment before nodding his head. "Ok. And try and calm any media at the hospital, too. I'm sure word has gotten out that there was a survivor."

* * *

Emily lost track of how much time she spent simply sitting on the hospital bed with Rachel, stroking her hair. The tears had subsided after about 10 minutes, and the young girl was fighting sleep.

"Why don't you just close your eyes for a little bit, sweetie?" Emily asked gently, pushing the strands of blonde hair away from the girl's face.

Emily sighed when she got no response.

"Sweetie." Emily started. "Come on." She lifted the girl up and away from her body as she tried to slide off of the bed. However, the surprisingly strong girl grasped a handful of Emily's shirt and winced in protest. "I'm just gonna lie down. I promise I'm not leaving." She assured the girl who let up on her grip only slightly.

"OK" Emily said after she got into a somewhat comfortable position with the small girl curled as close to the profiler as possible. "We're both gonna sleep for a little bit and then we're gonna talk just you and me before Sarah comes back, alright?" She was rubbing random patterns on the girl's arms waiting for a response, but when she didn't get one, she looked down and saw that Rachel's eyes were closed and her breathing was even.

Emily continued her soothing patterns for a few minutes more before resting her arm protectively around the girl and closing her eyes herself. She felt so out of place; so clueless and nervous that she was going to do something wrong to screw up this girl's life even more than it already was. But when she felt the small face nuzzle its way further into Emily's side, a small part of that worry faded.


End file.
